The Urdu Dictionary Board () is an academic and literary institution of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, administered by National History and Literary Heritage Division of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Its objective is to edit and publish a comprehensive dictionary of the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, the Government of Pakistan announced the creation of an institution named "Urdu Development Board" in order to prepare a comprehensive dictionary of
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
. The Board initially had the following staff members:
* President: Mumtaz Hasan (), the former Secretary in the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and ...
as well as the Governor of
State Bank of Pakistan
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ( ur, ) is the Central Bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was Nationalized and ...
;
* Vice President:
Shaista Ikramullah
Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah (22 July 1915 – 11 December 2000) was a Bengali Pakistani politician from Bengal, diplomat and author. She was the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London. She was Pakistan's ambas ...
, a former representative at
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected ...
and delegate to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
;
* Honorary Director General:
Abdul Haq ʻAbd al-Ḥaqq ( ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الحقّ) is an Arabic male given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥaqq'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to t ...
, a linguist and scholar of Urdu language;
* Honorary Trustee:
Abdul Hafeez Kardar
Abdul Hafeez Kardar PP, HI ( ur, ) (17 January 1925 – 21 April 1996) was a Pakistani cricketer, politician and diplomat. He was the first captain of the Pakistan cricket team. He is one of the only three players to have played Test cric ...
, a politician and former professional cricketer;
*
Josh Malihabadi
Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 – 22 February 1982) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was a Pakistani poet and is regarded as one of the finest Urdu poets of the era of British India. Kno ...
, an Urdu poet;
*
Hassam-ud-Din Rashidi
Hassam-ud-Din Rashidi ( sd, پير حسام الدين راشدي) (September 20, 1911 – April 1, 1982) was a Pakistani historian and scholar.
, a
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
and journalist;
*
Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee
Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee ( ur, ), ''Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Tamgha-e-Quaid-i-Azam,'' was an Urdu poet, writer, journalist, broadcaster, translator, critic, researcher, linguist and lexicographer of Pakistan.
Early life
Born in Delhi, Haqqee acquired his B ...
, a linguist and literary critic;
*
Abul Lais Siddiqui
Abul Lais Siddiqui (Urdu: ابو اللیث صدیقی) (15 June 1916 – 7 September 1994) was a Pakistani author, researcher, critic, linguist and scholar of Urdu literature and linguistics.
Career
He remained associated with the Univers ...
, an Urdu writer and linguist;
* Syed Abdullah ();
* Muhammad Shabbirullah ();
* Raziq Al Khairy ()
On March 27, 1982, the name "Urdu Development Board" was changed to "Urdu Dictionary Board".
Operations
In 1960, the Board started publishing a quarterly magazine called ''Urdu Namah'' () under the editorship of
Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee
Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee ( ur, ), ''Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Tamgha-e-Quaid-i-Azam,'' was an Urdu poet, writer, journalist, broadcaster, translator, critic, researcher, linguist and lexicographer of Pakistan.
Early life
Born in Delhi, Haqqee acquired his B ...
. From then on to 1977, a total of 54 issues were released.
In 1977, the Board published the first edition of ''
Urdu Lughat
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...
'', a 22-volume comprehensive dictionary of the Urdu language. The dictionary had 20,000 pages, including 220,000 words.
In 2009, Pakistani feminist poet
Fahmida Riaz
Fahmida Riaz ( ur, ) (28 July 1946 – 21 November 2018) was a Urdu writer, poet and activist of Pakistan. She authored many books, of which some are ''Godaavari'', ''Khatt-e Marmuz'', and ''Khana e Aab O Gil'' the first translation in rhyme o ...
was appointed as the Chief Editor of the Board.
In 2010, the Board publiushed one last edition ''
Urdu Lughat
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...
''.
In 2016,
Aqeel Abbas Jafari
Aqeel Abbas Jafri ( ur, ) (born August 10, 1957 in Karachi, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependenci ...
has been appointed as the Chief Editor of the Board.
In 2017, the digital version of ''Urdu Lughat'' was released.
Since 2019, the Board was not assigned another Chief Editor, and 37 out of the total 55 staff seats were vacant due to lack of funding.